Hitachi to buy Britain’s Horizon Nuclear Power in ¥50 bn deal

Hitachi Ltd. is seeking to expand its nuclear power business in the UK after the Fukushima crisis effectively ended demand for atomic energy reactors in Japan, according to Japan’s Kyodo news agency.

A ¥50 bn deal could be concluded by Hitachi and Horizon, a joint venture that was set up by German power companies in Britain in 2009. The German government is phasing out nuclear power, which had led to the founders of Horizon, RWE AG and E.ON AG, to look for a buyer.

The new venture could mean Hitachi building new nuclear power plants in the UK, a country which relies on nuclear power for approximately 15% of its electricity.

A group led by Westinghouse Electric Co., a unit of Toshiba Corp., is the rival bidder.